This the End of Me
by Lilypad16
Summary: Dick Grayson, or also known as Robin was kidnapped when he was two years old. And now, until he is 18 years old, has to go live with the family he was taken from. It just so happens that fate is cruel and his real father just happens to be Slade.
1. Chapter 1

"You need to come home immediately," my adoptive father said over the phone. He sounded—worried. He never sounded worried. He was always so confident. I mean, he was Batman. What could have Batman worried?

"Ok—okay," I answered, more than a little unsure of myself. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

There was a pause. I knew him well enough to know that he was thinking about what he should and shouldn't tell me. This was bad. He is such a straight forward man-so blunt, if he was trying to shield me, then something was seriously wrong. Fear spiked through me and rested at my heart. My pulse sped up and dread filled my stomach.

"Just come home, Dick, there is something we need to discuss," he told me, his voice held more authority than it did a few minutes ago. And he called me by my first name, he never did that when I was at the Titans Tower, in fear that someone would figure out my secret identity. He was so paranoid.

I nodded my understanding, but quickly realized he couldn't see me and I answered with a simple "Okay, I'll be there soon."

"Dick, I want you to know that matter what…" he paused. "I want you to remember that I love you," he said softly.

I visibly flinched. He never said that to me. Ever. The last time those words came out of his mouth I was ten and had just broken my arm. I always thought the only reason he even said it then was to keep me from crying. I knew he loved me, of course, I just never heard him say it.

"I love too," I responded. "I'll see you in a little bit." I hung up the phone and looked around my room for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what just happened. I took a shaky breath and dialed my best friend's number.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

"Hello," I heard him answer.

"Roy," I breathed a sigh of relief, I was afraid he wasn't going to answer.

"What's up, Boy Blunder?" he teased. I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Shut it, Arrow Head," I dished it back out to him. "I need you to go Wayne Manor. I think something is wrong. My dad just called me and he sounded worried. I don't know, but I want you there when he drops whatever news he has."

Roy now sounded concerned, "Okay. Do you want Wally there too?"

Again I nodded, but realized he couldn't see me. "Yeah, you should call him. I have to pack and figure out something to tell my team. I'll see you in a little bit," I told him before I hung up the phone. Sighing, I sat on my bed, not wanting to go home. Not only does bad news, or assumingly bad news, await me there, but I haven't been home in so long. I missed my dad and Alfred of course, but I enjoyed my freedom and responsibility of leading the Teen Titans. Once again, I sighed. I better start getting packed, my bag wasn't going to do it by itself.

…

My team sat on the couch, waiting for me to explain why I had a packed bag. Raven sat on the far right side, a book in her hand, but she wasn't reading it. Her hood was down, like it usually was when she felt comfortable. Beast Boy was next her, he was surprisingly sitting still. Cyborg had a broken remote that he was trying to fix in his hands. He would occasionally press a button to see it if would work. Starfire seemed the most concerned as to why it seemed I was leaving. My heart ached at the thought of telling her that I have to leave for a few days. She would be understanding, right? I mean, family comes first and if my dad needs me, he needs me.

I swallowed hard, four pairs of eyes were on me. I didn't know how to start, so I just quickly said it—anticipating the large amount of questions. "I," I began, "have to go back to Gotham for a little while." My father called and he needs me."

I expected an onslaught of questions, but I didn't get a single question. Beast Boy looked like he wanted to say something, but Raven nudged him to shut up.

' _Weird,'_ I thought.

…

I finally arrived in Gotham just has the sun was beginning to set. The closer I got to my old home the fast my heart beat. Roy, or Speedy, arrived there are few hours ago along with Wally, or Kid Flash. Neither of them would say what was going on, just that I should get there as soon as I could. I was also instructed to come as Dick Grayson, not Robin, and I was also told not to go through the Batcave, which lead me to believe that we had company.

I walked up to the big doors. I stopped. I didn't want to open those doors. I didn't know what was waiting for me, but I knew whatever it was, it wasn't good. All the signs pointed to a large heart break. However, I knew I couldn't stand out here for forever, no matter how much I wanted too. I took a deep breath and walked in.

"Hello?" I called. "Dad? Alfred?"

Nothing.

I shut the door. A loud thud rang out.

"Dick, we are I here," I heard my best friend, Roy, shout from the kitchen.

"Ok…" I said, holding out the 'a' sound longer than necessary. I made my way into the kitchen. When I finally made, I was taking super baby steps, my heart dropped at what I saw. There were three FBI agents standing around the island along with Commissioner Gordon, who was standing off to the side with my dad and Alfred. Roy and Wally stood on the right side of the kitchen, standing awfully close together as if they were trying to comfort each other.

I looked around for a few seconds before asking, "What's going on?"

Commissioner Gordon was the first one to speak up. "Dick, do you know anything about the Wilson family?"

I looked over at my dad as I shook my head. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Commissioner Gordon took a deep breath and looked anywhere but at me. "There is no way," he began, "to say this, so please excuse my bluntness, I'm just going to come out and say it. Dick, when you were two years old, the Grayson's took you from your stroller when you and your parents were visiting the circus."

"What?" I asked. Clearly this was some sick joke. I wonder who's I idea it was. Probably Roy's, this was something he would do. I would have to get back at him somehow. But how do I top this prank? I'll figure it out later.

I expected Commissioner Gordon to explain further, however it was someone who was dresses as an FBI agent that come forward. "Dick, er… yeah, Dick, do you remember anything about that night?"

I was taken back. "No, because first of all, that never happened. This is probably some prank that Roy," I shook my head in his direction, "put together. Second, I wouldn't remember anything because I was two."

The room was silent.

I crossed my arms. "Okay, guys the joke is over. 'HaHa' it was funny. Let's move on. Roy—Wally? You guys want something to eat?"

"Dick," Wally said so quietly it was almost a whisper. "This isn't' a joke."

I snapped my head toward him. "Joke's over Wally. This isn't funny."

I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. It was Roy. "That," he said, his voice laced his sorrow, "is because this isn't a joke. Dick, you were really taken from you family as a baby. I looked over the case file. Your dad looked over the case file. Commissioner Gordon looked over the case file. Dick, you were really kidnapped as a young child. The people you thought where your parents, weren't your parents."

I tried to shove Roy off of me, but he was stronger than me.

"Dick," he said defeated. "We are telling the truth."

I looked him in the eye. He green eyes were glistening with tears and I knew he wasn't lying.

My whole world was about to be flipped upside down. 


	2. Chapter 2

I sat down on the couch in the main living room. Alfred had given me a warm cup of tea. I didn't drink it, but the warmth from the cup provided little comfort. Roy sat on my left side and my dad say on my right. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, holding me close. I had a sickening feeling this would be the last time I got to sit on this couch with my family. I looked down at tea, refusing to look at the FBI agent who stood across from me.

"Do you want to know your real name?" the agent, whose name I forgot or maybe didn't even bother to learn, asked.

I snapped my head up. If wanted my attention he defiantly had it now. My blues eyes stung from a sudden onset of repressed tears. "No," I managed to say. My voice shaking a little. "My name is Richard Grayson. That's what I grew up calling myself. No paper—birth certificate or Social Security card or whatever else—is going to change my name."

I looked back down at my tea. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. Nobody knew what to say. How could they? This wasn't something that happened every day.

"I want to know the full story," Roy demanded. "Agent Adams, start from the beginning and don't leave out any details. I'm going to write a book."

Slowly turned my head to look at him. I wasn't angry at Roy for being so, well, Roy, I knew that the only reason he demanded to know the story was because he knew I wasn't going to ask for it. He wasn't going to write a book, he just wanted me to hear out FBI's side of the story. He wanted me get it over with. He knew it was going to be hard. He knew I needed to know the full story—hell, I knew I needed to hear the story, but that didn't stop me from trying to put it off. So I decided to play along. "You, are going to write a book?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "You couldn't even write a five page paper on what Queen Consolidates does, and you the heir to the company."

Roy put his hands up, "Okay, first of all that paper wasn't going to make me any money. This book will make me a millionaire. Second of all, you did a really crappy job on that paper. I only got C."

"I told you from the beginning, I was only going to put in 'C effort' for that paper and you still wanted me to write it. That was your fault. And you already are millionaire your set to inherit…" Roy cut me off.

"Yeah, inherit! I want to make my own money. And I thought your 'C effort' was actually 'B effort' but apparently you aren't the over achiever I thought you were."

"That's ridiculous! Besides if anything we should let Wally write it! He isn't going to inherit anything."

"Hey!" Wally shouted out. "There is nothing wrong with being middle class!"

Roy and I snickered.

It was obvious Wally wanted to use his super speed to run across the room and smack us upside the head. However, he couldn't do that without blowing everyone's cover. He calmed picked up one of the throw pillows laying on the couch he was sitting on and chucked it at us as hard as he could. It smacked Roy in the face and I laughed. Roy raised his hand and showed Wally a not so nice gesture. 

"Boys," my dad scolded.

It was silent for another minute before I took a deep breath and looked at Agent Adams. I, as slow as I could manage, nodded my head. I was ready to hear the story. I took in a shaky breath and forced myself to look at the man sitting across from me.

He looked over at my dad. When he nodded his approval, the agent began his story. "It was your birthday. You had just turned two and your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had taken you and your brothers and sister to the circus."

My eyes widened. I had siblings? What would they be like? What would they look like? Did they look like me? I had always wanted a brother, but I had given up on the idea that I would ever have any. Bruce didn't have any plans to adopt another child—at least he didn't. Things might be different now. My heart dropped, my stomach churned, and hot, burning tears had once again sprung to my eyes at the thought of Batman getting another Robin. At the thought of Bruce adopting another son. The son of Batman was no longer the son of Batman. The tears had slipped from my eyes at this point.

"He needs a minute," I barely heard Roy's voice say.

I stood up, "I'm sorry," I said. "I thought I could do this, but I can't. I just can't." I walked out.

"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay." I heard Wally's voice say, but it was Roy who had grabbed my arm.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked and knew he didn't want the obvious answer.

I looked down and whispered so quietly that only Roy and Wally could hear. "I'm…I'm no longer the son of Batman. Robin is gone. He can't exist anymore. Everything is gone. The Teen Titans, the Justice League, it's all gone. I can't be a part of it anymore. I'm no longer Batman's son."

Wally looked like he had been slapped. "Dick, you will always be Robin. You will always be the son of Batman. As of the Justice League? They aren't going to banish you for a crime your parent's committed. You will be on the team. As for the Teen Titans? They are just going to have to learn to manage without you for a little bit. At least until we can get stuff figured out."

"You don't think my dad is going to find himself another protégée?" I demanded.

Roy looked me in the eye. "Did he get a new one when he left to join the Teen Titans?"

It was my turn to look like I had been slapped. He had a point.

"I just want to go back to the way things were twenty-four hours ago." I said sorrow dripping from every word I said.

Roy wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I know, buddy, I know but until we can figure out how to time travel, let's go back in there and hear out the agent so he can leave and we can figure out what to do."

I sighed and let my two best friends lead me back into the room I so desperately wanted to escape from. I sat back in my stop and leaned against my dad. If anyone could fix this it would be him. And he will fix this, right?

Once again, I nodded to the agent indicating I was ready. Hopefully this time I can sit through the whole thing.

The agent cleared his throat. "As I was saying, it was your birthday and you were at the circus. There was a lot of people and you got lost. With no security cameras or any witnesses you disappeared for fourteen years. The only reason we found you was because a new agent picked up your case file by accident and decided to run the DNA through the FBI's data base and by some miracle l you were in it."

"How was I in it?" I demanded, my tone more angry that I intended.

It was Commissioner Gordon who answered. "It was a field trip. You were eight and your class came down to learn about public safety. To show the kids what happened to criminals after they were caught we swabbed your mouth along with Barbara's and put them in the system. If I would have known it would have led to…" he stopped his sentence and I didn't need an explanation as to why.

"Well, you found me, congratulations, now what? Case closed, you guys go home, get a raise for solving an over decade old case?" I crossed my arms. "Alfred, here, will show you the door."

Again, a silence fell over the room. The agent bit his lower lip, unsure how to proceed. "You need to go meet your family," he said, this time it was him that was unable to look at me.

I shook my head. "No, thank you, I have a family."

"Dick," Bruce began but the agent cut him off.

"Mr. Wayne's adoption of you doesn't exists because Richard Grayson doesn't exist."

I felt my stomach drop. I knew this was coming, but I wasn't going to give up without a fight. "Yes, I do. I'm sitting right here. I exist. I'm just a real as you and Bruce."

The agent sighed, he was starting to lose his temper. Good. "Richard Grayson isn't your real name," he tried to explain again.

"My name is Richard Grayson," I said through clenched teeth. "Anybody who thinks different is the one that had the problem. This was the name I grew up with. This is the name I am keeping. I don't want to meet the people I was taken from. Yeah, sucks for them, but I'm sure they have moved on by now."

"You don't have a choice. They are your legal guardians and, I'm sorry Dick, but you have to not only meet them, but live with them until you are a legal adult at the age of eighteen," my dad said.

I stared at him. "Who's side are you on?" I yelled. "How could you do this? How could you throw me out like I'm old cheese?" My throat began to burn and my eye sight blurred. My hands shook and my stomach hurt. I couldn't live with strangers. I didn't even what to meet them. There has to be a way out of this. There has too. I'll run. Yeah, that's it. I can run away. Someplace nobody can find me. Watch Tower! I can go to Watch Tower nobody but the Justice League and there sidekicks knew where it was. I could just live as Robin the rest of my life. Yeah, that's it. That's what I'll do. Richard Grayson, from this moment on is dead. There is only Robin. And Robin will get to stay with Batman.

Tears streamed down my face and my father pulled me into a hug. "I don't want to live with them," I murmured into his chest. How could things have gotten so bad? Two hours ago I had everything I could have ever wanted. I was a successful crime fighter with a wonderful team and friends. My father loved me and I knew he would always be there if I needed him. Now all that was gone. I would have to give up the Teen Titans and leave my friends and start over with a new family, a new name, a new place to live, new friends, new everything. I have never felt so defeated. I have never felt so broken. I was lost and there was nothing I or anyone could do to find me. I would never be me again. This was the end of me. The end of Richard Grayson and quite possibly the end of Robin.

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Son," Commissioner Gordon asked, "would you like to meet your mo..er..the women who gave birth to you? She's down at the station, waiting."

I shook my head into my father's chest. But it didn't matter because Wally had spoken for me. "Yeah, he does. Dick, you need to get his over with. You might have to live with them, but maybe we can work something out where you can come back every weekend for something."

I had no more strength to fight. I have never felt so tired. I let Roy lead me to the police car in the drive way. Wally sat on my left and Roy sat on my right. My dad decided that it would be best if he didn't go and as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I bit my lip to stop from crying. As we pulled up the police station, I refused to get out of the car for several minutes. With a lot of coaxing from Roy and Wally, I finally bit back my sorrow and pride. I took a deep breath and slid out of the car. Before I could shut the door of the police car, a women ran out of the building.

"My baby," I heard her whispered.

 **Please tell me what you think! Good? Bad? Best thing you have ever read in your life? Whichever one it is let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello! I'm glad you guys like everything so far! Truth be told I don't know much about the Wilson family I've don't some research but by all means I haven't written a research paper on them or anything! Also, you guys should know that I'm changing a few things. Rose will be Adeline's daughter and Joey will be able to talk and Adeline wasn't the one who shot his eye out. I don't think they would still be married if that happened and for this story I need them married! Lol Please let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!**_

I flinched as the women ran toward me. Tears swelled in her green eyes as she reached out to gently cup my face. I didn't know what to do. Should I look at her? Look at the ground, maybe? If I didn't look at her would she think I didn't like her? Did it matter what she thought? I was uncomfortable and I didn't like it. I bit my lip. This was awful.

She creased my cheek with her thumb. I brought my eyes up to meet hers. She had a smile that reached her eyes. Her green eyes sparkled with happiness. I couldn't imagine what she was feeling right now and I felt guilty that I felt the exact opposite. She let her hands drop from my face and pulled me into a hug. Again, I felt awkward and uncomfortable. It felt like I was at a family get together with relatives I hadn't seen in years and they were all hugging and telling me how big I've gotten. And it's weird because these people know you, but you have no idea who they are or why they insist on touching you.

I gently pulled back from her after a few moments. I looked around, trying to see Roy or Wally, maybe they would know what to do. I couldn't see find them, but I did see a man with white hair and an eye patch standing behind the women who was supposedly my mother. Next to him was a young boy, younger than me, with blonde curly hair and green eyes, a girl, who looked a little older than me, but not by much had long white hair and blue eyes, and another boy, who was obviously much older than me. I briefly wondered where they came from.

"You're so beautiful," the women complimented me and pulled me back into a hug.

"Mom," the girl interrupted. "Why don't we give the poor kid some space? He just found out about this an hour ago. Think about how he feels."

The women squeezed me tighter and then a few seconds later released me. I looked over to the girl and gave her a silent thank you. She smiled and reached her hand toward me. "I'm Rose," she introduced herself, "your sister."

"Nice to meet you—er re-meet you?" I gave the ground a confused look. My stomach turned in knots. I really didn't want to do this. I wanted to go home to Bruce and Alfred. I brought my head up, not making eye contact with anyone and looked around for Roy and Wally. Dammit, where did they go?

"They when inside the precinct. One of them said something about drawing a mustache on The Joker's wanted picture." Rose said with a shrug.

"Roy…" I grumbled.

"It's obvious you are highly uncomfortable. Do you want to go in and we can finish up introductions inside? That way you are at least in the same room with people you know." Rose suggested as she reached for my hand.

I nodded and asked, "Can they sit with me, Roy and Wally?"

My "mother" looked suddenly guilty as she began to say, "Honey, I don't think that would be a good idea. We haven't see you in so long, this should be a private moment between us."

As soon she said those words, I immediately pulled back, my hand slipping from Rose's. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I didn't want to go anywhere with them alone. I didn't want to go with them anywhere period, but if I had my best friends with me it would be somewhat more bearably. The ground became blurry as unshed tears filled my eyes.

"Addie," the man with one eye, who I assumed was my father, put his hands on her shoulders. "It will be okay. How about instead of going back inside we can go to dinner? Your friends can come, of course, why don't you go get them?"

I snapped my head up, waiting for someone to counter that suggestion. When no one did, I slowly nodded and walked, as normally paced as I could, inside to find them. "Roy, Wally," I called. Wally sped toward me at super speed and engulfed me in a hug. I gave him concerned looked, but luckily no one was paying any attention to the two teenagers who were secretly superheroes.

"What's up? How did it go?" Roy asked as he came up behind the young speedster.

As Wally pulled away as I said, "They want to take us out to dinner."

"Us?" Wally asked. "Why us?"

I shrugged. "They think it will be easier on my if I have people there that I know and trust."

It was Roy's turn to shrug. "They aint wrong," he said.

"Aren't." Wally and I corrected at the same time.

Rolling his eyes Roy groaned, "Whatever."

Part of me wondered how long it will be until all three of us are standing in the same room again. I didn't know what was going to happen from here. I didn't know if the Wilson's would allow me to keep in contact with Bruce and my friends? But I figured now would be as good time as any to find out. As we walked out, I saw the Wilson's sanding around talking to one another. They were discussing where to eat. They seemed normal. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I initially thought.

Roy nudged me, "Dude, is that your sister? She's hot."

"Roy!" Wally yelped. "A little insensitive, do you think?"

"Don't even think about it Roy, she looks like she can kick your ass in five seconds flat," I told him with a snicker.

"I can do it in three," she winked at Roy. "I'm Rose."

"Roy. Roy Harper heir of the Queen fortune," he returned the wink.

Wally and I rolled our eyes.

"I'm Wally. Average, middle class, heir to nothing. Maybe ten dollars, if I'm lucky," Wally joked and it got a chuckle out of everybody.

They younger boy, the one with curly blonde hair introduced himself, "I'm Joey and this," he nodded toward the older boy, "Is Grant. He may not act like it, but he is really glad you are back."

"Dido," I lied through my teeth. And looked over at Grant, he looked rather pissed. I doubt he was any more excited that I was found than I was.

"I'm Addie," the women said, "And this is my husband, Slade."

I took all that I had to not flinch and distort my face in horror. Memories of my worst enemy flooded my mind. I remember back to the time he kidnapped me and forced me to be his apprentice. I have never felt so helpless—so afraid as I did in that short time I was with him. Flashes backs of every time we had fought each other played through my mind. There was no way this man was the same, right? Fate couldn't be that cruel. I decided to let it go. Slade was not only person in the world with the name Slade.

"So where should we go eat," the man named Slade, but was not Slade—hopefully—asked.

"There is this really good Mexican restaurant called Rangos," Joey said, "When was here for my summer trip with my class, that was where we ate most nights. They have a wide variety of dishes and good service."

Addie nodded. "Sounds perfect."


	4. Chapter 4

We sat at one of the larger tables in the restaurant. It was a Wednesday night, so there weren't a ton of people there. I preferred it that way. Besides it wasn't going to take long for the media to find out that Richard Grayson the Prince of Gotham was stripped from his crown due to a horrible crime that he was a victim to. I cringed slightly at the thought of the media getting a hold of this story. I wonder if Bruce would be able to keep them from running the story for a few days. It was a long shot, but worth a try. Or maybe not. The story would come out eventually, so maybe it would be better if I just got it over with. But it would be nice to have a few days to adjust and come to terms with all of this before the whole world bombarded me with questions that I wouldn't be able to answer. I inwardly sighed. This was a mess. I have never wanted to disappear so badly in my life.

After we were all settled in, a waitress came and took our order. When the waitress left, she left a heavy tension. Nobody knew what to do next. We awkwardly stared at each other. We sat at an eight person table. I was in the middle on the right side. Roy was on my right and Wally was on my left. Next to Wally was Joey. On the other side Addie sat across from me. Slade was on her right and Rose was on her left. Grant sat next to Rose.

"Dating anybody?" Rose suddenly asked.

"What?" I asked dumbfounded.

Roy snickered and Wally looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Rose," Joey hissed. "That's a little too much."

"I agree," Addie said, although she looked like she wanted to know. With me being raised by Bruce Wayne, I'm sure she feels a little uneasy. I guarantee she was no stranger to the reputation that the rich hold. All you had to do was take a look at a young Oliver Queen; and I was Oliver's kid's best friend.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Look," she flicked her wrist toward me, "this is awkward. For everyone. The sooner we stop beating around the bush the better."

"Rose," Joey warned.

"No, I'm not trying to be mean—I'm not, but this is something that needs to be said. I'm not going to ask you something that I wouldn't answer. We can ask you a question and you can ask us a question. But, Trey, you need to talk to us."

I flinched, but not because of what she said, but because of what she called me. Trey. That must have been the name I was given at birth. But that's not my name now. What should I say? I don't want my name to be Trey, but how do I tell the people that gave me the name that? When I first became Robin, Bruce explained to me that my identity was my most valuable possession. I didn't matter who won the fight as long as no one knew my name. I began to slightly shake. I didn't want to be here. I can't be here. I wanted to go home. These people are taking everything from me.

Roy must have picked on my inner distress because he snapped at Rose, "Okay, enough. He doesn't have to do anything he isn't comfortable with."

"Pushing him into talking isn't going to help anybody out." Wally also came to my defense.

I appreciated what they were doing, but they didn't understand why I was upset. Didn't they hear what she called me? Why aren't the correcting her? "My," I tried to say something, but I couldn't because Grant was now in the argument.

"I agree with Rose. The kid needs to at least try to be a part of the family." Grant growled and glared at Roy.

Roy didn't say anything. He didn't have too because Joey did. "Grant we met him an hour ago. He found out about this two hours ago. Give Trey a break."

The moment he called me Trey I stood up. "I can't so this. It's too much." I began to walk away, but Addie quickly grabbed my arm.

"Trey," she began and I lost it.

"My name isn't Trey," I said loudly. People started to stare, but I didn't care. "My name is Richard Grayson or Dick Grayson, whichever you prefer…"

"We named yo…" Addie tried to explain, but I interrupted her.

"I don't care. I don't care what you named me, what my birth certificate says, or what you or anyone else thinks I should go by. My name is Richard Grayson. I have gone by that name for fourteen years and I'm not changing it now."

"You have understand where I am coming from," she pleaded.

"I could say the same thing to you," I countered back.

She looked at me like I had slapped her and I felt instantly guilty.

I looked at the floor. "I want to go home," I whispered.

"Dick?" I looked up to see Slade standing behind Addie. "Why don't you sit back down and we can try this again? I promise we won't be so invasive this time."

I looked at him for a few seconds trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. He did call me Dick, I had to admit he had that going for him. I looked over at Roy and Wally. Roy shook his head no, however Wally shook his head yes. I took Wally's advice.

"Okay." I said sadly and sat back down.

At the moment the waitress hesitantly approached the table with our drinks. "Everything okay?" she asked has she handed out the drinks.

"Yeah," I answered and looked at her name tag. "Thank you, Jenny."

She smiled at me and walked away.

"Now what?" Grant said a little harshly.

I shook my head. "I don't know what you guys want from me."

Addie looked like she wanted to cry. "We just want to get to know you. You're our baby and we missed out on so much. I'm sure Mr. Wayne did a good job…"

"He did a great job," I snapped.

Wally placed a hand on my shoulder. "No one is saying that he didn't. Lets do what Rose suggested. You guys ask a question and then Dick will ask a question. Dick goes first."

"Technically we already asked him a question," Grant said and crossed his arms.

Wally opened his mouth to protest, but I didn't want another fight to break out. I just wanted this stupid dinner to be over with. "No," I answered. "I'm not dating anyone."

Rose looked disappointed. "But you are so cute!"

"And filthy rich," Grant added.

"Enough," Slade scolded. "He answered the question. Dick, it's your turn. Anything you would like to ask?"

"I don't know…What do you guys do for a living?" I asked lamely. I couldn't think of anything to ask and to be honest, I didn't want to ask anything. I knew that I should try to get to know them, but I really didn't want to. I felt like I would be betraying Bruce.

"I'm a stay at home mom and Slade runs a manufacturing business." Addie said with a smile.

I nodded and waited for them to ask me something.

"What do you like to do for fun?" Joey asked as he took a sip of his coke.

Roy laughed. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to have fun."

Offended, I smacked him on the arm. "That's not true!"

"It is so true!" he countered. "Last week, you refused to go to a party with me."

"That," I replied, "is because you wanted to steal my dad's Bentley, use fake IDs to get into a club and pour hot wax on the artist that was performing that night. My father would have killed me. Killed me, Roy!"

"First of all, Justin Bieber deserves hot wax poured on him. You can't disagree with me on that one. Second your dad wouldn't have found out." Roy tried to argue.

"Lies," I shouted. "My dad would have found out before the night was even over. Then he would have yelled at me and told me you are a terrible friend that I should end it and only be friends with Wally. That is exactly what would have happened and you know it."

"How come I wasn't invited to this?" Wally asked with a slight glare.

I looked at him bewildered, "Because we didn't go. There was nothing to invite you to!"

Addie had a concerned look on her face. "T-Dick, was Mr. Wayne strict with you?"

I was taken back a little. I didn't like what she was suggesting. "No, he wasn't. He was a wonderful father."

"Okay," Addie nodded. She didn't look like she wanted to drop the subject, but Slade a placed a hand on her shoulder.

Our food came then.

"Rose?" Slade asked as he picked up his taco. "Did you get your government paper turned in?"

She nodded. "Yep."

Wally gasped.

"What?" Roy asked.

"I have a history project due tomorrow! Uncle Barry is going to kill me if I don't have it done." He said as he reached for his phone.

Roy laughed and I started to think of school. I was taking online classes, Bruce made me, he said that school was more important than crime fighting and the only way I could be leader of the Teen Titans was if my GPA remained above a 3.5. I wanted to know, but I didn't want to ask. Would I have to go to school again? I mean obviously I would have too. They didn't know I was the leader of the Teen Titans. They didn't know that I was Robin. I can't stand not knowing what was going to happen. I didn't want to know, but I needed to know.

"What is going to happen now?" I asked, unaware that Rose was telling a story.

Rose looked at me. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

I looked down and my plate for a few seconds. "What I mean is," I said as I poked at my food with my fork. I looked at them. "You don't actually expect me to live with you, do you? I'm sure you are wonderful people, but Gotham is my home. My family is here; Bruce, Alfred, and Roy and Wally. I don't know how to say this without hurting anyone's feelings, but I really don't want to pick up my life and start over with you."

"Dick," Addie said slowly. "You don't have a choice. You will come and live with us. We are going to try to make this as easy as we can, but we have decided that you are not going to be allowed contact with Mr. Wayne or your friends for a year. That way you have time to adjust."

My heart dropped. I looked over at Wally, expecting him to defend me, but he just looked down at his plate. It suddenly hit me that he knew this was probably going to be the outcome. Roy bit his lip and also avoided eye contact. What was happening? How could things fall apart so quickly?


	5. Chapter 5

As Slade went up the counter to pay the bill, and Addie and my new siblings got into the car. And I started to hypervenalte as the reality of things finally came crashing down. "I can't breathe," I wheezed out. Roy came up to me and started to rub my back in slow, soothing circles.

"It's going to be okay," he wished, trying to comfort me. But I knew him well enough to know that were empty words. Things were never going to go back to normal, and it was going to take years for things be 'okay' again.

I shook my head. Tears sprung into my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wasn't going to be able to see or talk to them for a whole year and the last thing I wanted was to leave my best friends with the image of my crying burning into their brain. I took in a shaky breath and wrapped my arms around my torso to try and comfort myself.

"Dick," Wally said in a low voice. When I looked at him he had a small smile playing on his face. "It's going to be okay, I know it is. And we don't have to follow the 'No Contact Rule', you know that."

"What? How?" I asked as a little flame of hope lit in my stomach.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! We are children of Justice League members; Teen Titans; superheroes. What do we have that civilians don't?"

"Communicators," I breathed. A small smile tugged at my lips. How could I forgot about our communicators?

"Excatly! And I'm the fasted kid alive, I can just run over to your house and we can sneak out or I can sneak in and we can see each other that way. It's going to be okay, Dick. We are going to make it okay. Now, I need to get home and finish my history project before Uncle Barry grounds me." Wally pulled my into a quick hug, whispered 'it will be okay' in my ear, and then he was gone.

It was just me and Roy. He was my closest friend. I told him things that I couldn't tell anyone else. I wanted to tell him that and so much more, but the words wouldn't form. The throat ached and my eyes burned. I felt pathetic. I looked at him with sad eyes, hoping that he would understand.

He also pulled me into a hug, but this one last a lot longer than Wally's.

"I understand," was all he said he said before he pulled away. His eyes were rimmed with tears. He reached out and ruffled my hair. "I'll call you later tonight."

I nodded my head and looked down at the ground. I was alone now. I had no familiar faces to help me though this. It was just me and my new family. I felt sick to my stomach.

As if Slade could read my exact thoughts, he placed a hand on my shoulder and asked if I was ready to go _home._

I didn't even know the meaning of the word anymore.

"And where is that exactly?" I dared to ask as he gently pressed a firm hand against my shoulder blade and lead me out of the restaurant.

Slade watched me for a few seconds as if he was trying to decide whether or not to tell me. "Bludhaven," he finally said.

I slowly nodded. That wasn't too far from here—maybe three hours. I could sneak out and see my dad and Alfred when I got too home sick. Or maybe Batman could pay a visit to Bludhaven—the city was known for its high crime rate after all.

"Tr—Dick, you want a window seat or something in the middle?" Rose called out as she stood next to a minivan.

My eyes met hers and at the same time we both said, "window."

A heavy silence hung in the air as we drove out of Gotham. Grant and Rose both put in ear buds and Joey pulled out a book. I sat and stared out the window. As I watched the buildings pass by my stomach tied into a knot and hot tears threated to fall down my face. It became hard to breath, but I tried to get it under control. I didn't want unnecessary attention on me. I tried to calm myself down, but it just wasn't working. As we passed though Gotham all I could think about was Batman out patrolling without me. How can you have a Batman without a Robin? I'm not sure what hurt worse—the idea that Batman no longer had a Robin or the fact that I would probably never be able to be Robin again.

At that thought, the tears began to silently fall.

There was no way that I would ever be able to put on my mask again. At least not with my new "family" finding out the truth, and I just couldn't let them find out. That was my dad's secret just as much as mine. They may be able to take Robin away from Gotham, but there isn't any way in hell that I was going to let them take away Batman.

And as for Robin and the Teen Titans? Well, the Titans might as well just find themselves a new leader. Jump City was all the way across the country and there was no way I would ever be able to continue my role as leader. Would they think that I abandoned them? Would Roy tell them the truth or make up some lie to explain my absence? Would the miss me? Would the team suffer without my guidance or would the go without me like nothing ever happened? What would Starfire think? Who would take the position as leader? Cyborg? Raven? How would they adjust? Maybe Kid Flash would join and help out until they got used to all the changes.

I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't think about it. It just hurt too much I didn't even get to say goodbye.

Goodbye. It was a small word that had a lot of power to it. It usually just gets thrown around without much meaning, but sometimes it means everything. I had to say goodbye to my parents at their funeral. Up until three hours ago I thought that was the hardest goodbye I ever had to say. But then I hugged Bruce and mumbled my goodbye into his chest—and that one takes the cake. That was the hardest goodbye that ever had to leave my lips. Saying goodbye to Robin would be the second hardest.


End file.
